What card to open?

[Anonymous]

Hi everyone!

So recently my husband and I have been working on rebuilding credit.  His is in much better shape than mine.  He has nothing negative on his reports.  

He has a recent installment loan (car lease) with good payment history for about 18 months and just recently opened a Bank of America Cash Rewards Card with an initial limit of 1500.  

The BoA card was opened in July and when they pulled his score it was 710 with EX.  I don't know if the account is showing up on his reports yet, but I am assuming since it is a new revolving account, and he has no other current ones, it will have possibly even boosted his score.

I've learned on these forums that 3 is a good number of revolving accounts to have, so I'm trying to help him figure out which two additional cards would be best to apply for now?  Any advice?

He keeps getting pre approval offers in the mail for the Discover IT.  I would like at least one of the cards to have travel rewards - do you think BoA would approve him for a 2nd card, the BoA Travel Rewards Card?  The only lender he would not apply for is Capital One, as he had a old collection with them a number years ago (apparently fell off his reports awhile ago) so I doubt they'd want to take him back.  Maybe Chase? (we bank with them)

So what do you MyFico experts suggest?  ;-)

[Anonymous]

Discover likes thin, clean profiles so that may be a possibility for him. Also, if the Cap One charge-off is so old that it's fallen off his reports it's highly likely that they would approve him for a new card. They are very forgiving.

[Anonymous]

I'd go for Discover and maybe a Chase Freedom. Age for 12-18 mos and move on to AmEx. Doesn't Barclaycard like thin files? 

[myjourney]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Hi everyone!

So recently my husband and I have been working on rebuilding credit.  His is in much better shape than mine.  He has nothing negative on his reports.  

He has a recent installment loan (car lease) with good payment history for about 18 months and just recently opened a Bank of America Cash Rewards Card with an initial limit of 1500.  

The BoA card was opened in July and when they pulled his score it was 710 with EX.  I don't know if the account is showing up on his reports yet, but I am assuming since it is a new revolving account, and he has no other current ones, it will have possibly even boosted his score.

I've learned on these forums that 3 is a good number of revolving accounts to have, so I'm trying to help him figure out which two additional cards would be best to apply for now?  Any advice?

He keeps getting pre approval offers in the mail for the Discover IT.  I would like at least one of the cards to have travel rewards - do you think BoA would approve him for a 2nd card, the BoA Travel Rewards Card?  The only lender he would not apply for is Capital One, as he had a old collection with them a number years ago (apparently fell off his reports awhile ago) so I doubt they'd want to take him back.  Maybe Chase? (we bank with them)

So what do you MyFico experts suggest?  ;-)

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Step 1 Check the pre-approval sites for Cap 1, Chase, Citi and Amex and report back if you have offers with a specific APR

Step 2 What do you spend the most monthly on? Let us know 

Step 3 As someone already said Cap1 is very forgiving and has probably given all of us a 2nd chance so don't discount that fact and be prepared to use it.

Discover can be a good card if you find 2 or more quarters that benefit your spending at 5%

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I tried the pre-qual link a few days ago for Chase and Citi.  They could not come up with a pre-qual offer, although they did suggest a few different cards.  Tried with Amex today, and same scenario.

Really hesitating on Capital One.  I know they are forgiving, they took me back even after burning them in a chapter 7 bk.  But because my husband never settled the debt, so to speak, I don't know if the outcome would be the same.

Perhaps I should start with the Discover that he is pre-qual for?  Anyone have experience with BoA?  Do you think they would issue him a second card?  Is there a waiting period one should wait for before applying for a second BoA card?  

In terms of what we spend most on, it would probably be groceries or gas, but his BoA rewards card handles that nicely, as does my Capital One QS, so as I stated before, we'd be looking for a card that has travel benefits now.

[myjourney]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions.

I tried the pre-qual link a few days ago for Chase and Citi.  They could not come up with a pre-qual offer, although they did suggest a few different cards.  Tried with Amex today, and same scenario.

Really hesitating on Capital One.  I know they are forgiving, they took me back even after burning them in a chapter 7 bk.  But because my husband never settled the debt, so to speak, I don't know if the outcome would be the same.

Perhaps I should start with the Discover that he is pre-qual for?  Anyone have experience with BoA?  Do you think they would issue him a second card?  Is there a waiting period one should wait for before applying for a second BoA card?  

In terms of what we spend most on, it would probably be groceries or gas, but his BoA rewards card handles that nicely, as does my Capital One QS, so as I stated before, we'd be looking for a card that has travel benefits now.

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Even tho you have no pre-approvals ....which is strange but I'm thinking it's because the BofA card is new which you did state but didn't say how new? Or maybe I missed it

With a good EX score which he has and no negatives I think he stands a good chance with PRG at this point which is a good travel card IMHO

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions.

I tried the pre-qual link a few days ago for Chase and Citi.  They could not come up with a pre-qual offer, although they did suggest a few different cards.  Tried with Amex today, and same scenario.

Really hesitating on Capital One.  I know they are forgiving, they took me back even after burning them in a chapter 7 bk.  But because my husband never settled the debt, so to speak, I don't know if the outcome would be the same.

Perhaps I should start with the Discover that he is pre-qual for?  Anyone have experience with BoA?  Do you think they would issue him a second card?  Is there a waiting period one should wait for before applying for a second BoA card?  

In terms of what we spend most on, it would probably be groceries or gas, but his BoA rewards card handles that nicely, as does my Capital One QS, so as I stated before, we'd be looking for a card that has travel benefits now.

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Amex didn't give me anything in the pre-qual and I got an AmEx BCP approval. I forget what the Citi pre-qual gave me, but it definitely wasn't the Citi Prestige-which I was approved for. 

[Anonymous]

quick note to check the discover "pre-qual" and check for a specific rate. if it says something like 10.99-22.99, it's worthless. if it shows a single rate, then it's a real pre-qual

i got one once when i was in the 500's and was dumb enough to waste a HP on it.

i agree with the amex prg statement, approval odds would be very good, and the 50k signup bonus is good. now that it has 2x points on groceries and gas, i use it a lot.

is he pre-qualed on cap 1's site? the venture card gives nice SL's, signup bonus is nice, and the 2% on everything is decent too.

not sure if someone who is rebuilding wants to go for the triple pull though....

check the credit card finder tool (google) as it may have better offers than the cc issuer sites. i've read you can still get teh offers w/o entering your ss# info